most of the Mville kids wrestle year round and it shows. Jordan's, Kent State Camp, Ready on Sundays, Miron. Some of the bigger guys will play Football but will wrestle in the off season also. Forrider, Boyd, Sparks, Sepeda are regulers out at Jordans & Ready. Rahmani goes to Miron. Some of these guys will venture up north during the off season and wrestle up there. They have a increadible youth program with some outstanding young wrestlers, alot of these kids wrestle year round. I believe they had two or three Ourway state champs last year. Not sure about Olentangy. I'ts all about working hard in the off season to get better, Boyd is a great example of this. Did not wrestle varsity as a Freshman, now state placer. They put the time in the off season

powerdouble;1109491 wrote:Looking for a room with bigger kids in it? Any suggestions?

Bishop Ready's Sunday open mats should consistantly have DIII Heavyweight State 3rd, Garren, DII 220 State qualifier Farrow, Heidelberg's 184/197 (who's probably 220+) Russell, likely Kamba, 195 from Olentangy Orange. Should be a solid room for upper weights.

Come to think of it, here's a great example of where Central Ohio could do better. With those four guys in the room, there's simply no reason DII State runner-up, Gusan shouldn't be there. If you had those five guys going at it in one room, why would any 195-hwt go anywhere else on Sunday nights?

You can do the same with llight weights. Anchor with guys like Bobby Smith, Artem Timchenko, Penzone, Wilson and Rooney. All of the DI 106-pound State qualifiers were underclassmen...throw in DiSabito and DII's qualifier Jay (Whitehall) and you've got a great room.

This stuff just happens up north, here it will take some doing.

Bitter, I worked out with Gusan just yesterday. He is planning on coming to Ready on Sundays beginning April 15th. Should be a good room.

headlock165;1110111 wrote:Bitter, I worked out with Gusan just yesterday. He is planning on coming to Ready on Sundays beginning April 15th. Should be a good room.

Oh joy...

Headlock...That's what I'm talking about. Now the Ready Sunday night room has Garren, Gusan, Farrow, Kamba and Russell all committed. If you weigh over 200 pounds and want to be wrestling at The Schott in March, why would you go anywhere else? It's free and all are welcome.

A lot of the top level kids in our area are so into the idea of a big open mat like what they do at Solon..ect, and that's great, but, let's realize how few of those kids we have. Central Ohio has a lot of those really good "on the bubble" guys, Near placers..1-2 at state type-deals, and, through coaching/ being friends with many guys at that particular level, I've noticed that some of these guys don't want to go live every week with someone who they could possibly see at the district tournament, to go to the state tournament, to place at the state tournament. It seemed a bit odd to me, because I was never like that, I just wanted to wrestle, haha. I can see where they're coming from though, but, look at the state finals. almost every year you've got two friends going for a state title against each other, prime example is Dijullius and Mitch years ago. I guess its just something a lot of these guys will have to get over, and like several coaches have pointed out, we've got to raise the bar a bit, make their goals more than just getting to the state tournament, make them want to be placers and champs. Just an observation by a very green coach.

Ill be at ready every sunday! and so will Igramby

Bitterrunner-up;1110083 wrote:Bishop Ready's Sunday open mats should consistantly have DIII Heavyweight State 3rd, Garren, DII 220 State qualifier Farrow, Heidelberg's 184/197 (who's probably 220+) Russell, likely Kamba, 195 from Olentangy Orange. Should be a solid room for upper weights.

Come to think of it, here's a great example of where Central Ohio could do better. With those four guys in the room, there's simply no reason DII State runner-up, Gusan shouldn't be there. If you had those five guys going at it in one room, why would any 195-hwt go anywhere else on Sunday nights?

You can do the same with llight weights. Anchor with guys like Bobby Smith, Artem Timchenko, Penzone, Wilson and Rooney. All of the DI 106-pound State qualifiers were underclassmen...throw in DiSabito and DII's qualifier Jay (Whitehall) and you've got a great room.

This stuff just happens up north, here it will take some doing.

Sounds ideal. Another thought, just throwing it out there, Split up the rooms and coaches. Light kids go to School A on set nights, Middles to school B, Uppers to C. Coaches who specialize in those weights attend the open mats they fit into. Everyone convenes at UA on that set night. Just some food for thought.

No need to reinvent the wheel. I think that gets too complicated. The best rooms I've ever been to are pretty simple, straightforward...come in, stretch, drill, go live and go home. Also, I wouldn't want to separate the lights and the heavies. Having everyone together in one room builds a sense of community. Kids network, make new friends and learn from each other, regardless of weight class.


One thing I wanted to post while this discussion of open mats was still running, when I mention those names above as sort of "heavy hitters" that would make any open mat strong, it's not the stars that make a great room. It's next year's stars that make the room. It's not necessarily the four State qualifiers from each weight class, it's the other 12 guys that were in that District bracket. I don't want any solid, but not great kid, to think that an elite open mat is full of only elite wrestlers. It's not. It's full of wrestlers who truly want to be elite, regardless of what point they are at in their journey.

Here, here bitter!!! EXCELLENT post.

Bitterrunner-up;1111701 wrote:No need to reinvent the wheel. I think that gets too complicated. The best rooms I've ever been to are pretty simple, straightforward...come in, stretch, drill, go live and go home. Also, I wouldn't want to separate the lights and the heavies. Having everyone together in one room builds a sense of community. Kids network, make new friends and learn from each other, regardless of weight class.


One thing I wanted to post while this discussion of open mats was still running, when I mention those names above as sort of "heavy hitters" that would make any open mat strong, it's not the stars that make a great room. It's next year's stars that make the room. It's not necessarily the four State qualifiers from each weight class, it's the other 12 guys that were in that District bracket. I don't want any solid, but not great kid, to think that an elite open mat is full of only elite wrestlers. It's not. It's full of wrestlers who truly want to be elite, regardless of what point they are at in their journey.

Jason Russell, Freshman stud from columbus west 2-19 record WAS ready open mats summer 2007.

Bitter can you answer this question? Looking at the big 3 St.Eds, Wadsworth, Massillon Perry, what percentage of their wrestlers attend Solon's open mats?

Not many. St. Edward is a different animal and I don't think anyone can compare to them or even try to emulate them. They are completely committed to the freestyle circuit. They send kids to Fargo who haven't even hit the starting line-up yet. But that's a team of ultra dedicated wrestlers who have the singular goal of being the best possible wrestler they can be. They don't need a great open mat, because their room is already the best competition in the state. Comparing anyone from St. Edward to anyone in Central Ohio is just not apples to apples. Think about it, if St. Edward dualed the Central District All Stars, they'd likely go 12-2.

Wadsworth and Perry each run their own rooms, or at least the did in my day. But again, You're talking about the truly elite programs here. Perry has been runner-up basically for the last decade, and Wadsworth is the only public school to ever topple St. Edward. Because of their numbers and their talent level, they can hold an open mat and if no one else shows, then they still have 30 committed wrestlers going at it. It also means if you live in Medina County (Wadsworth) or Stark County (Perry), then their open mats are probably on your radar. Central Ohio simply doesn't have a team like that. Maybe it did back in Ready's or DeSales' heyday, but it hasn't been that way for a while. Even with the not-so-distant past of DeSales being strong and dominating at the District level, there was never a big open mat there either.

The better question would be how many wrestlers from schools like Maple Hts, Brecksville, Coventry, Twinsburg, St. Ignatius, Highland, CVCA, Stow, Avon, Crestwood, Mentor Lake Catholic,North Royalton, Kenston, Benedictine, North Olmsted andSt. Vincent-St. Mary. Three or four from each (and many others) combined with Solon's talent college kids home for the summer (another missing component in Central Ohio) makes a great room.


Westie...You're a testament to what a hard working kid can accomplish using open mats.

Ok, fair enough.

Bitterrunner-up;1111701 wrote:No need to reinvent the wheel. I think that gets too complicated. The best rooms I've ever been to are pretty simple, straightforward...come in, stretch, drill, go live and go home. Also, I wouldn't want to separate the lights and the heavies. Having everyone together in one room builds a sense of community. Kids network, make new friends and learn from each other, regardless of weight class.


One thing I wanted to post while this discussion of open mats was still running, when I mention those names above as sort of "heavy hitters" that would make any open mat strong, it's not the stars that make a great room. It's next year's stars that make the room. It's not necessarily the four State qualifiers from each weight class, it's the other 12 guys that were in that District bracket. I don't want any solid, but not great kid, to think that an elite open mat is full of only elite wrestlers. It's not. It's full of wrestlers who truly want to be elite, regardless of what point they are at in their journey.

I see Brian really rubbed of on you with the whole reinventing the wheel schpeel. I agree that it doesn't need to get complicated. However, being pretty much strictly an upper weight coach as I am, I think it would be awesome to get all the upperweights together and have a night where they can get specific instruction, cause lets be honest, 106 and 285 are a different form of wrestling. For now though, I agree, keep it simple.

I worked with both big and little guys, and my technique with them is surprisingly similar, although I totally get where you're coming from. I think in a room at has group of dediciated upperwights, it's fine to break out a little minni-clinic while the rest of the open mat drills or warms up. In a room like Ready's, perhaps Mr. Rowlands stops by a couple times over the summer and drops some knowledge.

I've got no issue with "big man camps" and that sort of individual stuff. but an open mat is different, at least in my eyes.

I agree... No need to re-invent the wheel. This is why I spend my time trying to create a better mouse trap. The model I am currently working on involves milk. What I find is while setting it up, I usually spill some. And then I start crying.

Don't you start your topic hi-jacking humor on here Cruiser.

open mats are good family fun

Kilbourne open mats will resume on Tuesday nights from 630 to 800 starting April 17th. Really good room last summer! Four out of the 1st team all metro attended many of the Kilbourne open mats! Good numbers. Good competition! Bw133, hope to see you there! And it's free!

Cut the cord

Why can't you have mini tournaments once a week rotate club sites

The problem here is how to run an Open Room. On Sundays during the season Uncle Bob realized that we had just cut weight, wrestled in a dual, tri, quad or tournament. So for 2 hours we DRILLED. Just like the Rusians we DRILLED.

During the week, we practiced 2 times and we DRILLED. He realized that we were cutting weight and that we were going full go during our school pracices and we DRILLED...just like the Russians.

So tell me...who will you go to to DRILL?

This thread may be a telling sign of what is wrong with Central Ohio wrestling. The thread is laced with inconsistancies and contradictions. Everybody is wondering why NE Ohio dominates. There are several reasons for the NE dominance but this thread seems to be focused on offseason programs so lets start there.

Solon open mats, Solon open mats that is all you hear about. Great kids traveling from afar to workout in a SINGULAR open mat. Nothing fancy, warm up then get after each other for a couple hours. Steel sharpens steel philosophy. Just from these postings Central Ohio open mats look something like this: Monday-Darby, Davidson, Orange, Delaware.....Tuesday-Groveport, Big Walnut.....Wednesday- Upper Arlington, Orange....Thursday- Liberty......Sunday- Liberty, Ready.......Does this look like an effort to consolidate the talent pool?


Not really sure if the whole centralized open mat theory is even accurate. Bitter LOVES his NE Ohio and LOVES to sing praises of his "back in the day" Solon open mat stories. Fair enough, but even he readily admits that St. Eds., Perry and Wadsworth don't attend and hold their "own" open mats. Really can't argue with the success of those programs despite the fact that they keep things "in house". Read Ozzie8383's post and you will know why they can keep it in house. It all starts with development on the youth level.

Vince brings up a very good point and that is "how" open mats are run. Open mats should be nothing more than "an educational tool" in the development of a wrestler. Coaches should be focusing on honing or introducing techniques and improving the positioning of their wrestlers. Whether this is through constant drilling or live action I guess depends on the situation. Telling a kid to drive himself and a couple of buddies to open mats all over the city unsupervised is WORTHLESS. Coaches need to be HEAVILY involved in TEACHING. Going live all the time can be detrimental if a kid starts developing bad habits or losing confidence because nobody is TEACHING them throughout the process.

Freestyle participation? Whole different thread.....

Just to clear one part up... As soon as Davidson's Monday clinics begin, then the Darby open mats will be done for a while. We also support the Wednesday CDWCA Open mats at Upper Arlington. Those open mats were fantastic last year!